Inking mechanism for printing machines



Jan. 5, 1932. H v. BALL ET AL INKING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINESOriginal Filed Senn. 20, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet F'lG.4-.-

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Jan. 5, 1032. H v. BALL ET AL 1,840,009

INKING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES Original Filed Sept. 20, 1929 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 5,' I932 UNITEDISTVATESE' A N O v IEIARRYv. BALL, or conoonn, MASSACHUSETTS, mm JOHN n-f'roMLIN, or BROOKLYN,

NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS TO B. HOE & C0.,

OF NEW YORK mo, or nn'wy onmn. Y., A consort-Arron INKING MECHANISM nonrnrnrms MACHINES Application filed September 20, 1929, Serial No.393,973. Renewed November 18, 1931.

This invention relates to inking mechanism for rotary printing machinesand more particularly to the distributionof inkon the lnk cylinder, fromwhich it is transferred to form rollers that deposit it on the printingplates.

r a run in contact with the ink cylinder. In order to distribute the inkevenly on the periphery of the cylinder, means are usually provided tomove the rollers axially, or forward and back endwise with respect tothe cylinder; the 1 rollers so used being known as vibrating inkrollers. I

The resilient quality of the rollers allows them to be set close enoughto the cylinder.

so they will be flattened slightly when they press against the cylindersurface, but due to the curvature of the peripheries of the ink rollerand the ink cylinder theyare in engagement over an area of contact thatis but little wider than a line and but a small portion of the Surfaceof the roller is effective atany instant for distributing the ink on the03 1111 der. For this reason it is necessary to provide a largenumberrof ink rollers and in many cases use an ink cyl nder of largerdiameter than it would otherwise be made, in order to provide theperipheral surface required for the rollers.

l/Vith the mechanism shown herein, the

peripheral surface of the ink cylinder is used -more effectively, forthe means for distributing. the ink is in contact with a relativelylarge area of the said surface at all times, and the distributing means,is more efficient also, because a much larger area of its surface iselfective at any instant than is the case when rollers are used.

It is an object of the invention to provide a means for distributing inkon an ink cylinder of a printing machine, that with relatively few partsand with an ink cylinder of relatively small diameter will distributeink as effectively as an arrangement ofrollerssuch as is used in commonpractice would, when used with a larger ink cylinder.

It is also an object of the invention to pro-,

erally improved construction, whereby thedevice will be simple, durableand inexpensive in construction, as well as convenient, practical,serviceable and efiicient in its use.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in,

View, which will appear as the description proceeds, the inventionresides in the combination and arrangement of parts, and in the Idetails of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it beingunderstood that various changes in the precise embodiment of theinvention herein disclosed, may be made within thescope ofwhat isclaimed, without depart- 1 ing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

F ignre 1 is a diagrammatic view of a'portion of a rotary web printingmachine as viewed from one side, showing the ink-distributing belts thatare a feature of the in vention, and one form of mechanism formovingthemforward and back lengthwise of the ink cylinder. A

Figure 2 shows afragmentof one forniof an ink distributing belt, partlyin section;

Figure 3 shows a similar view of another form of ink distributing belt,1

Figure 4: is a view of a portion of one of j the ink belt rollers withthe ink belt which it supports, shown in section,

Figure 5 is a view that is similar in many respects to Figurel, butshowing a modified form of mechanism for. causing the ink belt to moveforward and back lengthwise of the ink cylinder; v Figure 6 is'anirregular fragmentary view partly in section showing a portion of theink cylinder and adjacent parts as seen on the broken line AA of Figure5; and

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic plan view of the arrangement shown in Figures5 and (Sshowing how the ink belt is skewed with respect to the inkcylinder.

Referringto the drawings, 11 indicates one of the two side frames of arotary printing.

machine. Suitable 1 bearings are carried 1 by the frames andsupport animpression cylinder 12, and a formcylinder 13, which are suitably drivenand geared to run at the same speed. f

Ink is supplied from a reservoir not shown and conducted through pipes14, to an ink rail 15, from which it is discharged against the peripheryof the revolving ink cylinder 16. Details of an ink supply system ofthis type is shown in Halliwell Patent Number 1,644,723 dated October11, 1927, hence further description is unnecessary.

An ink belt 17, is supported on ink belt rollers 18 and 19, and asimilar ink belt 21, is supported on ink belt rollers 22 and 23. The 10lers are mounted in bearings arranged to hold the belts in engagementwith the cylinder 16, and they are driven thereby. A fragment of oneform of ink belt is shown in Figure 2, and a fragment of another form ofink belt is shown in Figure 3. The belts may be made of rubbervulcanized on canvas, or other suitable material, and are preferablyformed with continuous ribs as shown at 24 in Figure-2, or mutilatedribs as shown at 25 in- Figure 3, the latter arrangement producing amore flexible belt. The function of these ribs is to engage grooves 26,formed in the ink belt rollers in the manner shown in Figure 4,andinsure that the proper relationbetween the belts and the rollers ismaintained.

In the preferred arrangement, the ink rollers and the beltscarriedthereby are vibrated, or moved, parallel to the axis of the rollers todistribute the ink on thecylinder 16. This is accomplished by a wellknown arrangement comprising vibrator arms 27,. having rollers 28, whichengage with grooved collars secured to the ink belt roller shafts.

The vibrator arms are secured to a shaft 29,v rotatably supported inbrackets 31, secured to the frame 11. A driving arm 32 is also securedto the shaft 29 and carries a roller 33, which engages a grooved cam 34,mounted concentric with the cylinder 16 and driven preferably at aslower speed by gearin not shown.

' us are thus provided for moving the rollers 22 and 23 axially, and asthe ribs of the ink belt are in engagement with the grooves in the inkbelt rollers, the belt is moved lengthwise along the surface of thecylinder 16 while running in contact with it, and thus acts todistribute the ink on the surface thereof. Those to whom this form ofink roliler vibrating mechanism is unknown, can find it fully disclosedin Schmidt Patent No. 1,322,829 dated November 25, 1919.

Means similar to that described above is provided for vibrating the belt17, which is carried by the rollers 18 and 19, and is shownin dottedlines in Figure 1.

An ink roller 35, assists in distributing the ink on the cylinder, andother rollers 35, 36, 37 and 38 act to transfer the ink from thecylinder 16 to the printing form carried on the cylinder 13.

A gear train is provided to drive the cylin' I der 16 and the vibratingmechanism in tlmed relation to the printing cylinder, the pitch lines ofthe gears being indicated at 39, 41, 42, 4.3 and 44.

In the modified form of the invention shown in Figures 5, 6, and 7, theink belt rollers instead of being forcibly moved axially, are-skewedalternately in opposite directions with respect to the cylinder 16 andthe ink belt is thus drawn back and forth lengthwise of'the cylinder.

Parts that are common to both forms of the invention are marked prime inthe drawings showing themodified form.

The mechanism for ske ing the ink belt rollers includes a pair of frames51 and 52. A bracket 53 is secured to the side frame 11' and is formedwith a tubular portion 54 through which the shaft 16 of the cylinder 16passes. The outside of the tubular portion is turned to form abearing-for the hub 55 of the frame 52. The outside of the hub 55 islikewise turned to form a bearing for the hub 56 of the frame 51. Theframes 51 and 52 may thus be rocked about the axis of the cylinder-16.

Bearings for the shafts of the inkbelt rollers are provided in theframes 51 and 52 at 57, 58, 59 and 61. These bearings may be of anyself-aligning type that will permit the oscillating motion of the rollershafts with respect to the frames, that is incident to skewing therollers relatively to the ink'cylinders.

The required rocking motion is imparted to the frames 51 and 52 bylevers 62 and 63, fulcrumed respectively on studs 64 and 65, secured tothe frame 11 These levers are operated by a cam 66, which rotates onthe,

rangement of frames, levers and a cam is.

provided at the opposite side of the machine, and that the cams aredriven at the same speed, and are positioned in opposite relation toeach other, thus causing the frames on one side of the machine to be ina forward position with respect to the rotation of the cylinder, whilethe'frames on the other side are in a backward position, as shown inFigure 7.

When the ink belt is in the position shown in full lines in Figure 7, itis evident that it will move toward one side as the cylinder is rotated,and when the cams have turned the arms so the belt is in the positionshown by the dotted lines it will move toward the opposite side.

Causing the belt to thus traverse back and forth across the cylinderresults in evenly distributing the ink thereon.

What we claim is: V

1. In an inking mechanism for a print: ing machine, an ink cylinder, abelt running in contact with the cylinder and wrapped around a portionof its periphery, and means for vibrating the belt lengthwise of thecylinder. I

2. In an inking mechanism for a printing machine, an ink cylinder, abelt in contact with an arc of the periphery ofthe cylinder, rollerssupporting the belt and means for vibrating the belt lengthwise withrespect to the cylinder. I o 3. In an inking mechanism for a printingmachine, an ink cylinder, a belt in contact with an arc of the peripheryofthe cylinder, rollers supporting the belt, a groove in one of therollers co-acting with the belt to prevent lateral motion of the belt onthe roller and means for vibrating the belt lengthwise of the cylinder.

4. In an inking mechanism for a printing machine, an ink cylinder, abelt in contact with an arc of the periphery of the cylinder, rollerssupporting the belt, grooves in the rollers, means on the belt co-actingwith the grooves to prevent lateral movement of the belt relative to therollers, and means for vibrating the belt lengthwise of the cylinder.

5. In an inking mechanism for a printing machine, an ink cylinder, abelt in contact with an arc of the periphery of the cylinder, rollerssupporting the belt, grooves in the rollers, a rib 0n the belt co-actingwith the grooves, and means for vibrating the belt lengthwise of thecylinder.

6. In an inking mechanism for a printing machine, an ink cylinder, abelt running in contact with an arc of the periphery of the cylinder,rollers supporting the belt, and means acting on the rollers whereby thebelt is caused to move toward each end of the cylinder alternately.

7. In an inking mechanism for a printing machine, an ink cylinder, abelt, rollers holding the belt in contact with an arc of the peripheryof the cylinder, journals for the rollers, bearings for the journals,and means for causing the journals to move axially in the bearings. V

8. In an inking mechanism for a printing machine, an ink cylinder, abelt, rollers to hold the belt in running engagement with an arc of thecylinder; said rollers being supported with their axes parallel witheach other but out of parallelism with the axis of the cylinder, andmeans for moving the axes 01": the rollers while keeping them parallelwith each other and keeping the belt in engagement with the cylinder,whereby the belt will be made to run toward one end of the cylinder andthen toward the other end.

9. In an inkingmechanism for a printing machine, an ink cylinder, a beltin contact with an arc of the periphery of the cylinder,

rollers supporting the belt, grooves in the I tures.

HARRY V. BALL. JOHN R. TOMLIN.

